206 My CO Stash #6 - Witchy Ways by World Reader (DnDXDCU)

-Not a SI but a CO fic with Author's DnD OC transported into the DCU, specifically Gotham City!

Sypnosis: A Warlock finding his way through the DC Universe. (BL)

Rated: ???

Words: 22K

Posted on: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/witchy-ways-dnd-oc-young-justice-dc-universe.830598/ (World Reader)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

"I found it!"

I looked up from my book of the Feywild to see Aliabra Briskey, halfling wizard of divination, student of Archmage Alet Sendref, and all around cheerful mascot drops an ancient tome on top of the desk I was reading out of.

And on the page closest to me was an illustration of a deck of cards.

"...The Deck of Many Things?" I read aloud, causing the halfling to nod excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Super powerful deck of cards, woe and glory befalling all who draw from it, blah blad blah, and we found a full deck!"

"SHHHHHHHH!" Three hushes came from two directions.

"Meep! Sorry~"

I pull the book towards me, reading some of the listed effects of the cards. And wow, were they some cards.

"We found something pretty dangerous, huh."

"Try super useful! Imagine if we could get those assholes from Arlania to pick a card!"

"...It would be fun." I admit, cracking a grin at Alibra's enthusiasm.

"And imagine if we drew some of the cards! Wishes!" The short woman was practically vibrating with excitement. "If I could just see it being cast once…"

"We should find the others, talk about this back at the tavern."

Alibra nods. "Right, right, that makes sense. This is super big after all."

I grab her hand as she tries to sneak it into my bag. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Oh come on! I'm a flipping conwoman, what do you want from me?!"

That last bit got her a few suspicious glances as she copies down the page and rounds up our party of six from around the halls of the Holy Archives of the Æsir Church.

---​

I glanced around the small circle the Emerald Liones had made, looking at each of my close friends as Alibra explained the deck.

Ashryn Caijeon, an elvish swordsman(?) from Grengmon, where they(?) attended Sigramarc Military Academy. Androgynous in appearence and demeaner, none of us could tell if they was actually male or female, and we'd long given up on peeking in the bath. Their brown eyes were focused on Alibra, hanging on to our little wizard's every word.

Kuch Cragemir, a half-orc axe wielder from Amazeon, the land of the legendary Amazons, born into the matriarchal society after his father had apparently slept with one during one of their mainland excursions. He didn't quite fit the image of being a half-orc personality wise though. Sure, he was muscular and had small tusks, but he liked cooking and theater just as well as splitting skulls. Though admittedly, his acting skills were a little sub-par when someone made the mistake of having him perform on stage.

Valan Hek-ma, a beast-kin cleric of Anubis from Zemer, the sandy continent to the south. An excellent conversationalist if you were curious about religion, death, and such lore of the here-after. Apparently, he'd been sent off for some mission or other to find a runaway noble or some business. Kid of someone important, probably. He was cagey about the details, but nobody really cared beyond their descriptions in case we saw them. His brow was furrowed, obviously worried about the power of the deck we'd found in some dude's crypt. And probably feeling very good about himself with his vocal protest of graverobbing.

And the last one, besides myself and Alibra, Vilis, the tiefling assassin that we'd befriended after helping her with the assassination of Duke Joseph Swan, a duke in Lospar that was too stuck in his ways to revitalize his territory's economy. Honestly, we were so lucky that nobody was around to trace our teleportation circle back to Torknir. I was already caught up in fey politics, I did not need human politics to deal with on top of that.

"So, we gonna sell it?" Vilis asked, her red eyes locked on to the deck.

"NO, we're not going to sell it you greedy hell-spawn!" Alibra screeched as she threw a book at our knife-master's face. "This mystical item can bring about miracles! Alter reality beyond anything we can do with just magic! Wishes!"

"Who would even buy it? With the sheer danger this thing has on a personal level, wouldn't it be safer to drop this into the depths of Chary's Chackles?" Ashryn added in, tilting their head. "I mean, I doubt the Church or the government would be overly happy of shelling out a reward for something like this."

"And they might end up sacrificing people to use it for their own ends…" Kuch said, head tilted to the side. "Archmages are powerful enough weapons of conflict, but with something like this they could wish away an entire army."

"See! See! So we should draw the cards ourselves, like responsible do-gooders!"

"This, coming from the woman who wanted to cause a revolt against a baron just because she couldn't trick him with her stupid ass tarot card readings." I sarcastically replied, leaning back on my hands.

"Screw you, Adam! That totally would've worked if Valan had kept his stupid mouth shut!" She shouted, pointing over-dramatically at the holy man.

"I merely confirmed what he already knew, Alibra, please calm down so we can discuss what to do with this." Ah, Valan, the ever present calm in our shit show of an adventuring party.

"...I kinda want to try it." I admit, which caught everyone's attention. "I mean, a wish might just be able to get me out of my contract with Oberon and keep my magic."

The group pauses, everyone thinking about it. "Yes!" Except for Alibra at least, who's doing a little victory dance.

"Adam, you know that it's foolish. There's no way you'd draw the moon card before you got a hold of a bad card. And you heard Alibra, death isn't the biggest thing at stake here, not if your soul ends up being trapped somewhere in the Outer Planes. Like, we'd never be able to find you." Kuch said, his eyes worried for me.

"Ahhh, how hard can it be? I mean, I haven't died yet. I like my odds!" I said with a cocky facade. Sure, it was true to an extent, I did have confidence in my luck. But I was nervous. This could go so bad for me… But it was a chance I was willing to take to be free from the fey, to not have Oberon's orders over my head like a sword at my neck.

I've read what they fey can do, what they can ask of people. No way in any of the Nine Hells.

"...If this is your choice, I shall not stop you." Valan said, bowing his head. "I only ask that you take caution and draw your cards carefully."

"...I don't like this. You're going to get yourself killed, Adam." Ashryn sighed, their face already one of reluctant acceptance.

If I didn't draw my cards in front of them, I'd do it behind their backs and they fucking knew it.

"Why not? It's one hell of a gamble, but I'm not the one on the line." Vilis said, her callous nature showing through once more.

I smirk, and pick up the Deck of Many Things. I open the deck's lid.

"Hey, Adam?"

I turn to Kuch.

"It's been really fun, being your friend. You know, in case you die."

I snap a finger at him, my Mage Hand flicking his thick forehead. "Bah, watch me, I'm gonna outlive all of you fuckers."

And so, I draw three cards.

Ruin​

Vizier​

Rift​

And then, I am suddenly pulled outside of the body of Adam White, human warlock of Oberon.

I see myself, blink in shock as the Deck of Many Things disappears with a loud pop.

"What the actual fuck…" I and myself speak in unison.

I'm see through. I'm floating. I can see weird things around me, made of glowing lines and energies.

The Ethereal Plane? Holy shit, was my body being possessed by something?!

But my body didn't start speaking abyssal or do anything out of the ordinary. He just blinked and looked into my bag.

"Where the fuck just happened?!"

And with those final words, I'm pulled back from existence, and thrust into the portal my actions had opened.

---

Ruin, the Card of Despair, has taken from you all of your material wealth for your hubris.

Vizier, the Card of Council, has been given the question, and is in the process of answering them as per its function.

Rift, the Card of Worlds, has stolen the Deck of Many Things from this plane and sent a possibility of yourself into that which is beyond the Far Realm.

---​

"...Huh. Does that mean I'm a new Adam White?" I ask myself as I reappear into a proper reality, some kind of park it looks like.

I fall on my back, looking up at the sky. It's night out, but there don't seem to be any stars in the sky, which is… worrying.

I close my eyes, and allow my mystical senses to open, allowing me to perceive the flow of the Weave around me. I've studied a bit of magic, not enough to be a proper wizard mind you, but enough to know the general flow that astral bodies and other mystical variables had on it.

And ignoring the beacons of magic on my person, I felt deep and listened to the background noise of the Weave…

It was different of course. I was apparently in a whole new planar system, which was one hell of a concept within itself, but the nature of the magics still felt familiar enough. And according to what I was feeling, there were still stars.

And I opened my eyes in tandem with my magical senses, and saw beyond whatever veil was covering them, to reveal a starry night sky. It was beautiful, and new. Stars that I didn't know, and no familiar constellations in the sky.

"...I wonder what the local gods are like…"

And so, I stand up, dusting my casual cotton clothes off. Oddly enough, they were devoid of any color…

And I only had my Periapt of Wound Closure and my Spellfire Bracers on me.

I pat my pocket. I didn't have my rune stone on me.

I'm in a place I know absolutely nothing about, nothing but the clothes on my back and two magical items, and I'm a spellcaster without my arcane focus.

...Oh gods, I don't have any money either.

---​

Gotham City, as I've learned wasn't a kind city. Which worked out quite well for me, considering I'd grown up an orphan who stole and lied to get enough money to eat.

Spell components were being accumulated in what I would call a half-assed component pouch made of cloth and string tucked away under my jacket. Some sand, a clump of fleece, petals from a rose, and it was all I needed, really. I mean, I'm not a wizard who needs spell components for days to be useful. As long as I had my voice and my hands free, I could cast most of my spells with no problems.

Like now, as I'm shoplifting while under Greater Invisibility.

Three sandwiches turned invisible in my hand as I stuffed them into my backpack. Quickly followed by bottles of water and other foodstuff.

Honestly, the technology of this world was amazing, to be able to do so much while completely denying the existence of magic.

I'd already scoped out what I'd need while under an illusion, so I was moving quickly through the isles, being careful not to bump into anything.

Thankfully, these convenience stores are small affairs, with little to no supervision, which was odd. Though, a teenager stuffing his backpack full of food and then disappearing would be too obvious for even the tired receptionists at the front to ignore.

"Open for me, archway of the fey."

And with the incantation of Dimension Door softly muttered, I was on the other side of the street, teleporting just as my Greater Invisibility ended to the sidewalk across the street, half a block away.

Zipping up my bag, and slinging it across my shoulders, I began walking, not daring to look around since that would only make me seem more suspicious.

After waking up in Gotham City Park, I've been living off the streets again, just like my childhood in Valmata. My magic sure made it easier.

Mage Hand allowed me to distract or test potential pickpocket victims, making sure I stayed clear of anyone aware enough of their clothes and money. Greater Invisibility allowed me to steal from basically wherever I wanted since nobody had any magical defences anywhere.

As I joined the small crowd at the crosswalk, I quickly threw up a casting of Disguise Self. Blonde hair, blue eyes, less trashy clothes, and a quick pallet swap on my backpack.

People didn't look at what you're face like a lot of people believe. At least, not when they're looking for you. They look at what you own, what you're wearing, things like that. And in a bustling metropolis like Gotham, nobody paid any attention about the people around them, too busy with wherever they were going and what they had to do.

Was I being a bit overly cautious? Of course I was, I'd only stolen a few silv- a few dozen dollars worth of food. But if dealing with the fey had taught me one thing, it was that caution was always necessary when doing business. And thievery, while illegal, was still a business. It'd only take the police, as the guard was called in this world, a few sightings of me to incriminate me if they caught on to my thefts.

Besides, I've stolen quite a lot of stuff other than food, so it was good practice for when I stole other stuff.

My hand flicks out to the side as I grab the newspaper right off of the stand without anybody seeing.

Like that.

I eventually reached a little monument or other. It looked like a six-seven foot Zemerian obelisk, but there weren't any carvings and I, nor was anyone else it seems, wasn't remotely interested what the rusty old plaque said about it.

Still, it was an alcove from the street with benches to eat lunch and rest in.

---​

One hour passes, my trash thrown into the public dumpsters and the newspaper held up so I could read the little piece of 'Batman and Robin'.

Apparently, there were heroes in this world, but not like the common heroes of myth or even of the adventuring guilds back home. No, these heroes were public and flashy, larger than life, and adored by much of the populace. Honestly, it was interesting that even in this world the forces of good and evil clashed. Perhaps they truly were cosmic forces instead of mere societal constructs…

But the rumors of Batman being a vampire was worrying. But seeing as he has been seen in the daylight, they were probably baseless gossip.

And apparently, Robin was coming into his own, having been seen with several other junior heroes walking into the headquarters of the 'Justice League', who seemed to be the prime organization that dealt with uncommon technologies and powers.

I mean...aliens. Technology that even this world's advanced technology couldn't understand. Atlantis was also maybe real?

All of these odd things, and people still deny magic…

It's so... weird.

---​

Cla-clic

"Gimme the necklace, kid. Now."

Five-six days in, and I'm being mugged. Mugged by a big muscular gang member that has definitely done this before, if the lack of nerves and tattoos are anything to go by.

I sigh, honestly hoping that I could go a full week on the streets without something like this happening.

My hands move up to the back of my neck, as though to unlock the clasp, but I was actually pointing a finger at the thug from the base of my neck.

"Foe."

The man may have a gun to my head, but playing the defenseless victim always made people like him drop their guards to some degree.

And so, he died a quick death by my simple cantrip, two spheres of purple energy jumping from my finger to bash his head in.

The gun went off, but the blow had altered its trajectory enough for it to only hit the side of the alleyway I was using to get to my hideout.

"How about I keep it and you go to hell?"

I wonder if I've adapted to this odd world a bit too well?

---​

Author's Note: Those Spellfire Bracers are reskinned Illusionist's Bracers from the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. For those who bother to look into it, yeah. Pretty gnarly with all the buffs Warlocks stack on Eldritch Blast.